The holidays are over and it's time for me to go back to some serious blog writting! A few interesting movies came out in France during the last couple of weeks, first on the list:

Les Enfants de Timpelbach (Children of Timpelbach, but you guessed it), adaptation of the book of the same name, is set in a world that is not without reminding me of those of JP Jeunet (ie City Of Lost Children)...the main difference being here the brighter colors and general uplifting atmosphere.

If you were like me: a turbulent kid who'd get sent in the corner several times a day for all the stupid shit he commited then you probably wished a few times that your parents and all the other annoying adults with their stupid rules would just vanish plain and simple. Well that dream just comes true for the children in Timpelbach, a small village in the mountains.

The first minutes show us what life in the village is like and how the kids are pretty much bullying the adults...damn how I wish I could have done half the tricks they're pulling off!

One morning they wake up and no adult is to be found within the village. Just a note explaining how pissed off the adults are and they all left to move elsewhere (for a day just to tease them) to teach them all a lesson. The children are left free to do whatever the hell they want, enjoy bringind a happy mayhem to the village and eventually fight each otherwith baseball bats and potatoe guns...for chizzle. Soon a darker menace comes to disturb their little play-time: an ogre portrayed by Gerard Depardieu who's captured their parents and would love to catch a few of them too.

Overall, Les Enfants de Timpelbach is a good movie. The first half is very entertaining and almost flawless as long as you have kept somewhat of a kid's spirit. The visuals are gorgeous, everything is crafted to make you believe in this story and you do. It also has many references to directors like Jeunet, Burton or Gilliam which is a good suprise for such a movie. On the negative side, the acting is uneven but that's to be expected in a movie with so much young kids. My main problem was it's political correctness and some people might find it cheesy. However if you like being reminded of what it was like to be a kid and dream up adventures of all kind, this is a movie you'll very much enjoy!

Here is the usual trailer in French (sorry again but no english subs are available yet). It's still pretty images moving fast!

Since I'm the whole kid movie talk, I strongly recommend you to check out La Guerre Des Boutons (War Of The Buttons) from Yves Robert. It came out in the 60s, I saw it as a kid and it stays my all time favourite movie of the genre. It had a remake done in the 90s which I think might have been released in the US but if you want to look into it go for the original it's a diamond.

Thanks for reading,
Fouapa